“A momentary lapse in the connection,” the producer said, his four hands worrying at each other. “I’m certain we’ll resolve it shortly, Majesty.”

Annoyance flickered to life in Nor’s chest, a little flash of heat she forced herself to ignore. Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, the static faded. Nor rolled back her shoulders and smiled once more, ready to continue her speech.

But as the image sharpened, Nor realized it wasn’t her on the screen any longer. Her blood went cold at the sight of a massive, shadowed figure emerging from a cloud of darkness.

“What in the hell is that?” The producer’s voice squeaked from behind the bright lights. Nor could hear a commotion, the sound of stomping feet as he shuffled around to get a better look at the main screen, but Nor remained frozen, fixated by the image before her.

Someone had hacked into the live feed.

It should have been impossible, with all the firewalls and security measures they’d put into place just this morning, in light of the Unaffected attacks. Nor’s skin prickled, her body rooted to the spot as she stared at the screen, wishing she could release the command to shut it all down, to banish the beastly figure from her sight.

But when a single blue light illuminated the massive figure’s suit of armor, the words failed her, as if she’d swallowed them whole, along with the lump in her throat.

Nor knew that bloodred armor well.

She’d seen it in her nightmares for years. The spikes protruding from the shoulders, the crimson electric shield covering the soldier’s body. A shield that sent out impassable currents, melting bullets in their tracks and preventing enemy blades from piercing a fatal vein.

This armor had been crafted for the soldiers from New Veda, the fierce giants who’d taken up arms with the Unified Systems against Xen Ptera so many years ago. An ancient and dented red helmet, with smoke stains marring the metal, concealed the soldier’s face from view. Black designs were etched into the armor, a network of lines that looked like a spider’s web.

“What is this?” Darai hissed. All around him, droids scrambled to regain control of the live feed. “Contain this situation, right now, before I...”

His voice trailed off as the soldier spoke.

“This message is for those whose minds still belong to them.”

Sweat moistened Nor’s palms as fear wrapped itself around her throat. Valen, she thought. Valen, where are you?

But the doorway was still empty, her brother beyond her reach.

The soldier’s words sounded robotic. Horrific. They were spoken in a deep male voice that came not from Arachnid himself, but from a spiderlike droid perched upon his shoulder. The droid’s twelve legs, silver and jagged as knives, dug into Arachnid’s armor. Four red lights shone on the center of its body like unblinking eyes.